Gallery at Northwest commemorates Civil War's Battle of Antietam

Sep. 18—A local collector has assembled a gallery to commemorate the anniversary of the deadliest battle in American history.

Lockport resident Jim McGrath currently has a trio of paintings on display at Northwest Bank, 55 East Ave., pertaining to The Battle of Antietam. It is often referred to as the bloodiest day in American history, with more than 3,000 deaths resulting from the Civil War battle fought on Sept. 17, 1862, in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

McGrath hopes the display brings more awareness to an often overlooked battle that claimed thousands of American lives.

"We have to remember more. I checked (Sunday) on all the news networks just to see if anybody would pick up on this day and nobody did," he said.

He said the artwork highlights the lives lost during the battle as well as the impacts of the Union's first taste of victory during the Civil War.

Two of the three pieces depict battlefield scenes on the Confederate side, with generals Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Robert E. Lee leading their troops.

"You can just see the devastation," McGrath said. "You see the cannonball holes in the wall of the church there where they were firing."

The third painting depicts President Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to members of his cabinet.

The Battle of Antietam "has such significance because of the Emancipation Proclamation," McGrath said.

The Union victory gave Lincoln the ability to issue it "and get that equality going," he explained.

Bank manager Noelle Lepine said Northwest employees enjoy hosting McGrath's commemorative displays in their branch each month.

"There's a blank space that we have here and it brings in life and history to people," Lepine said.

Next month, McGrath said, he will be switching out the Civil War paintings to gear up for the World Series by displaying scenes from the 1960 series matchup between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.